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Skysports.com has introduced a new player rating system for the World Cup. We look at the top performers.

Last Updated: 22/06/10 5:13pm

There have been some mixed player performances so far at the World Cup and we have been inviting you to have your say on who has been impressive.

Our reporters have also been marking players after every game but, as ever, our views our totally subjective.

For the World Cup we have added a new system which takes opinion out of the equation.

The Sky Player Rating, powered by FSB, is a mark out of ten based on a player's performance. The rating is calculated by assigning points to every action a player makes on the pitch during a match.

Points are won for goal-scoring, shooting and accurate passing while defenders accrue marks for tackles and interceptions. Keepers are rated for saves and clean sheets.

Players can lose marks for conceding goals, committing fouls and picking up cards. You can find out more here.

At the final whistle each player has a points total which is then converted into a Sky Player Rating for that game.

After adding up all the points, they are then converted into a simple rating out of 10. Sky Player Rating system is intended to be fair and consistent so it is possible to directly compare strikers' and defenders' performances during a game.

The Sky Player Ratings have produced some interesting statistical snippets up to the second round of World Cup group stage games.

Portugal are the highest points scorers so far with a team total of 1225, followed by Argentina with 1193 and Spain on 1142. England are currently 9th with 1003.

England did better in their game against Algeria than against the USA in total points (538 v 465), partly due to not conceding but also suggesting they did more defending. Backing this up, their share of the total match points was lower - 50.5 per cent compared to 52 per cent against the USA - meaning a closer game; defenders Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole were the two top England performers.

South America dominates the players rated highest in the tournament with Brazil's Elano highest rated on 9.0 alongside Higuain of Argentina.